Braves grind out win over Royals

BOUNTIFUL  If ever there was a way to capture an athletic performance and duplicate it later on, you can bet Bountiful coach Larry Wall would gladly spend his entire weekend bottling up every ounce of what his squad gave him Friday evening.

On offense, defense and special teams, the Bountiful Braves were solid throughout their Region 5 finale against Roy, and the end result was a resounding 31-14 win.

Running back Jamie Rigby racked up 250 yards and four touchdowns, but perhaps what will please Wall the most is that, with the opening round of the playoffs just two weeks away, his squad looks every bit like a team that belongs there.

"You just look to build on it," Wall said of the performance. "I've said this the last 3-4 weeks, 'This was like playoff football.' It really is. There's implications in every game."

Entering Friday, Rigby had rushed for 826 yards but had only found the endzone three times. Bountiful's work-horse back not only eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark against Roy, he also more than doubled his touchdown total.

Once he got going, there was no stopping him.

Rigby scored his first TD of the game to put Bountiful ahead 10-7 with 6:02 left in the second quarter, and neither he  nor his teammates  looked back.

Behind a powerful and bruising offensive line, he racked up three more scores in the second half to put the game away.

His second touchdown, which came with 9:22 remaining in the third quarter, was the best of the bunch.

Rigby burst through the right side of the line on a guard pull play, and then zipped past a safety and a cornerback, who both appeared to have an angle on him, en route to the endzone.

"He's got that extra gear," said Wall. "He just shifts and then he goes."

For his part, the 170-pound running back heaped praise on his O-line, which dominated the line of scrimmage throughout.

"Oh, all my yards are to them," he said.

It also helped that his running mate, fullback Mitch Johnson, posed problems for Roy all night.

Johnson, who finished with 65 yards on 16 carries, proved to be an effective change of pace for Rigby throughout.

"Johnson gets the hard yards  doesn't get all the fluff," said Wall. "But, boy, he blocks well."

Then there was Bountiful's defense, which, aside from a late TD by Luke Hobbs, kept Roy's stellar offense in check.

No doubt, Wall would love to get a similiar overall performance in two weeks.